Try this one: Origami: the Art and fun of Japanese Paper Folding.  The drawings make sense, there’s lots of white space on the pages so as not to overwhelm, and it’s spiral bound so you don’t have to try to do your origami one-handed while the other hand keeps your book open.  It’s a little tricky to find an image of the book online; here’s one I found if you want to get a bit of a feel for it.

Yet another suggestion that things are not always as they seem. This reminds me of how many folks I’ve heard say that they can only focus on what someone’s saying if they don’t make eye contact, though we tend to assume it’s the opposite. Take a look at this summary of a study (published earlier this year in Applied Cognitive Psychology) about the effect of doodling on recall.

Well-known artisan Angela Adams recently told Martha Stewart that her thriving business started with childhood doodling.  There’s no telling what’s brewing when kids don’t seem to be getting much done.  You can watch the clip on Martha’s website. (Scroll down and click on Angela Adams Rugs.)

I’ve lots to say about the flurry of ongoing excitement over Multiplication Facts, as they were, but as long as they continue to torment and elude many a young person (and older person, come to think of it), I shall continue to look for ways to make it a smoother ride.  The other day in the course of perusing my favorite algebra text, I came across a very old book that might do just that for some with a sense of humor and/or a taste for the old-fashioned.  (I’m never sure what “old-fashioned” refers to, but I’m quite sure that this qualifies.)  It’s called Marmaduke Multiply’s, and as far as I can tell it was originally published in 1841.  It’s been reprinted several times since, as demonstrated by the fact that you can order a copy for which you’ll be asked to pay anywhere from $.01 to $209.99.  To get a taste of it, and read about the pages that were modified along the way, have a look at Google’s book search.

Enjoy…

So there I was, ready to brush up on my trigonometry, when I discovered to my amazement that the high school textbook I’d saved from my own early math years was next to useless.  The explanations were awkward and convoluted, the examples didn’t seem to illustrate the accompanying instructions, and the diagrams barely supported the text. I spent a few minutes awash in astonishment that I’d learned anything at all in the company of the book before deciding that perhaps I’d prefer to do my brushing up with a more cooperative text.  I was just about to call a friend who might have also saved a trig book when I remembered a little book my mom got me for my birthday one year. I think she bought it because she liked the looks of it and she still can’t believe she successfully raised a math-loving child. It’s a little tiny hardback called Useful Mathematical & Physical Formulae.
It features a little cartoon wizard who can be found throughout the book helping to demonstrate and illustrate various concepts. He makes the whole thing entertaining as well as useful. And it’s not just formulas - there are lots of helpful reminders about where the formulas came from as well as enough to explain many of them to beginners. It’s also artfully done - the kind of math book you might enjoy even if you definitely don’t enjoy math. It turned out that the section about trig was just exactly what I needed to remind myself how it all works, with the circles and the right triangles, etc. It’s a great gift for a math lover, and a great reference for anyone who uses the stuff. Thanks, Mom.

For those days when the world feels a little thirsty for new possibilities…

http://www.pixelnitrate.com/papiroflexia